Sonar battle to continue against Elgin's gulls
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Sonar devices aimed at deterring gulls from breeding will be installed across Elgin for a second year – and this time the scheme will be extended.
All six Elgin councillors have agreed that around £20,000 from the town’s common good fund can be spent on hiring, installing and maintaining the devices.
A total of eight were used over a 12-week period during spring and early summer last year.
That number is expected to rise to ten and the length of time they are in place could be extended.
Meanwhile in a separate development Elgin Bid, the town centre management company, will increase the number of their gull deterrent machines from two to four.
During 2023 some properties in Elgin saw a drop of between 80 and 90% in the number of nests, and on a few of buildings there were none at all.
However the machines failed to make an impact in some areas including Ashgrove and Muirfield Road.
John Divers (Elgin South, Labour) said: "We had significant success last year, but we did find there were areas it didn’t cover.
"Officers are aware that we need extra ones and there will be discussions on where they need to go."
A decision on where to place devices is expected later this month.
Possible locations include Dr Gray’s Hospital and Elgin police station.
As the hospital site is elevated, it is believed a machine there would give better coverage.
The police station is being considered as a particularly aggressive gull, which nested there last summer, persistently dive-bombed pedestrians.
Graham Leadbitter (Elgin South, SNP) said: "Legislation around tackling seagulls is very strict and prevention and deterrence are really the only options available.
"I would encourage both householders and businesses who haven’t done so already, to consider what preventative measures they can take to help tackle this challenge."
Cllr Leadbitter added that nesting prevention measures help to stop gulls causing damage to drainage systems.
Amber Dunbar (Elgin North, Conservative) said: "Gulls are an issue the residents of Elgin consistently raise.
"I’m pleased that through the common good we were able to fund sonic devices which saw some success during the 2023 nesting season.
"That being said, it takes a number of years to break the nesting patterns of the birds, so I am hopeful that we can take on lessons learned from last year to see even more success going forward.”
As well as installing the sonar devices vermin control experts also removed 50 nests and around 80 eggs.
